Hospitals in Brussels had been preparing for the worst since the Paris attacks. On Tuesday, the worst happened.

Within minutes of the news of the first explosion at Zaventem airport, emergency plans swung into action. At least 25 hospitals in Brussels and neighbouring provinces began caring for the more than 300 people who were injured, according to newspaper La Libre Belgique. Off-duty doctors and nurses were asked to come to work; routine operations were postponed.

Erasmus hospital in western Brussels, the other side of the city from the airport, was not first in line to treat victims, but that changed after the bomb at Maelbeek metro. By 9.30am the first casualties started to arrive, some with life-threatening injuries.

Brussels attacks: police hunt bombing suspect captured on CCTV – live

Read more

Pascale Javaux, chief nurse at Erasmus, said she was most struck by the quantity of blood. “But there was no panic at all, everyone was very professional.” Many of the staff were also worried about their children and families, she said, but everyone followed the emergency plan.

“It’s war,” said Jacques Creteur, head of the intensive care unit, in comments to Agence France-Presse. “It’s the kind of trauma seen in war.”

A total of 16 victims of the attacks have been treated at Erasmus: six have gone home, but seven remain in intensive care, including three in a life-threatening condition. One young woman has not yet been identified. Most of the victims were Belgians, but three were foreigners, including a young man from the UK, who received light injuries.

'Everything is destroyed': witnesses at Zaventen airport and Maelbeek metro on the bombings

Read more

On Wednesday 15 victims of the terror attacks were being treated at St Pierre, including five who remain in a critical condition, although the prime suspect in the Paris attacks has since been transferred to a high-security jail in Bruges. “We are a hospital and we treat everyone equally, we are not the judges of who we treat,” spokeswoman Alexia Argyrakis said.

Since the Paris attacks, all Belgian hospitals have revised their emergency plans. Overseen by the head doctor, the plans are designed to ensure staff and resources are mobilised as quickly as possible, as well setting up welcome centres for victims’ families.

Security has also been stepped up: at Erasmus, army soldiers were guarding the entrance on Wednesday and every bag was checked on the way into the building.